Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Lacrosse Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger
9/14/2020 11:08:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell women's lacrosse team debuted as a varsity sport in the spring of 1978, and last year's abbreviated season marked year No. 42 for the program. Although the team is seeking its first league championship, many star players have donned the Orange & Blue through the years, including eight who are enshrined in the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame. Over the course of this week, we will take a look back through the decades and hear from many of the top players who helped shape the program's history. Special thanks to Geisinger for sponsoring the series. Â
1970s
Bucknell played its first intercollegiate women's lacrosse schedule as a club program in 1976, and coach Bobbi Testa's squad posted a winning record (3-2) in that initial foray. Just two short years later the program gained varsity status, and Testa's team battled through a myriad of injuries to post a respectable 3-4-2 record, headlined by an 8-7 victory over Gettysburg in the very first game. Some of the best women athletes in Bucknell history were a part of that inaugural varsity team, including Hall-of-Famers Pam Heller, Kathy Kline, Margaret Philleo and Karin Wegener. Heller '78 and Wegener '79 join us on today's chat, along with Val Johnson '78 and Jean Baker '79. Johnson was the leading scorer on the '78 team with 11 goals and four assists, and she was an All-Central Pennsylvania Fourth Team selection that year. Heller tied for the team lead with 11 goals in 1978, followed by Wegener with nine. Both were three-sport stars in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse, and both were Christy Mathewson Award winners as seniors. Baker co-captained the 1978 team and was a two-time All-Central Pennsylvania selection. Coach Jackie Dando and junior defender Eva Macris lead the discussion.
1980s
The varsity women's lacrosse program was still in its infancy when the decade of the 1980s began. Sally Starr, who has spent the last 39 years as head field hockey coach at Boston University, coached the Bison women's lax team in 1980 and 1981, and then Martha Ludwig began a six-year stint in 1982. Ludwig found success in her third season, leading the Bison to a 9-6 record and triple the win total from her first year in charge. That 1984 squad was the first in team history to play in the postseason, as it went 3-3 in East Coast Conference play to qualify for the ECC Tournament. One of the captains of the '84 team was Sue Gray, who still owns the top two single-season goal-scoring performances in team history. Gray, who is a member of the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame, scored 47 goals as a junior in 1983, and then topped that mark with 52 a year later. That remains the only 50-goal season in school history. Another of the top all-time scorers was Michelle Manion '89, whose 140 career goals was the school record until Suzanne Raffaele ecplised the mark in 2003. Two of the top goalies in team history played in the '80s. Susan Lang piled up 875 career saves from 1986-89, which still stands as the program record by a whopping 164 over the next-highest total. Becky Bittinger patrolled the crease from 1982-84, and she still owns the season (.632) and career (.608) records for save percentage. Bittinger also still owns the single-season saves record with 29 against Gettysburg in 1982. Gray, who was invited to try out for the U.S. national team, is one of five alumnae joining us on this chat. She is joined by Liz Rabenold '81, Sue Ramage '85, Heidi Zoller '87 and Irene Sotiropolous '90. All five are former team captains. Ramage was a two-time All-ECC selection. and Zoller earned All-ECC honors in 1986.Â
1990s
The decade of the 1990s was a period of both transition and excitement for the Bison women's lacrosse program, and it was highlighted the move to the Patriot League in 1991 and by the most successful season in team history in 1997. Jennifer Averill came on board as head coach in 1990 and took the team from one victory in her first season to seven just two years later. Averill, who was also the field hockey head coach, departed Bucknell for Wake Forest after the 1992 lacrosse season, and she has gone on to become one of the most successful field hockey coaches in the nation in her 28-year career there. Heather Lewis took over both Bison programs during the 1992-93 academic year, and after four seasons she turned her focus solely to field hockey as Barb Jordan grabbed the lax reins starting in 1997. And what a season that was. The '97 squad finished 13-3, setting team records for wins in a season and winning percentage. That team started out 7-0, including wins over Cornell and Stanford, and the following season the Bison were again successful with a 10-5 record. The '90s produced a Hall-of-Famer in Tricia Way '94, who earned three All-Patriot League citations in lacrosse and two more in field hockey, making her the first Bucknell woman ever to receive five all-conference honors. On today's call, coach Jackie Dando is joined by Leslie Why '92, Amy Green '97, Heidi Hammes '99 and Liz Murphy '99. Why captained the 1992 squad and was a three-time all-conference selection, once in the East Coast Conference and twice in the Patriot League. Green was a two-year captain, a two-time All-Patriot League selection and the 1994 PL Rookie of the Year. She was also the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1997 and was a CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American. Hammes and Murphy were team co-captains as seniors in 1999. Hammes was a three-time All-Patriot Leaguer, and today she ranks fourth in team history in goals (128) and fifth in points (170). She was named to the All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team in 1998. Murphy was also a three-time all-conference selection. Â
2000s
In the decade spanning 2000-09, we saw a number of significant scoring records go down. Suzanne Raffaele, a 2014 Hall of Fame inductee, eclipsed Michelle Manion's 14-year-old career goals record when she finished with 144, four more than the previous mark. Raffaele and Bonnie Buechel both had 40-goal seasons, two of only eight in team history. Carol Donohue shattered the single-season records for points (71) and assists (36) in 2008, and by the time she graduated in 2010 she had broken Raffaele's career points mark with 185, a record that still stands. Buechel, Amy Hasler and Nicole Kallis added career records for draw controls, ground balls and goalie save percentage, respectively, and you get the idea that many of the top players in team history came from this era. From a team standpoint, one of the biggest victories in program history came in 2003, when the Bucknell topped Colgate 13-9 in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. That win sent the Bison on to the league championship game for the first time ever, where they were ultimately defeated by top-seeded American. Bucknell also made postseason appearances in 2004, 2006 and 2009. Raffaele '03 and Buechel '09 are joined by Rachel Prowler '06, Julia Braun '11 and Alyssa DeLorenz '11 on today's conversation. In addition to holding the BU career goals record with 144, Raffaele still ranks third on the career points chart with 173. She was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2000, she was a four-time All-Patriot League selection, and she capped her career by being named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2003. A standout defender, Prowler was a three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection and the 2006 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. Buechel overcame a knee injury to become one of the top midfielders in team history. She was a four-time All-Patriot League selection, including three First Team citations, and was named to the All-Mid-Atlantic Region squad as a senior. Buechel set a team record with 11 draw controls in a game and graduated with a school-record 164. She also ranks third all-time in goals (129), fourth in points (171), fourth in caused turnovers (78) and fifth in ground balls (135). Braun was a two-year team captain who also excelled in the midfield. She ranks seventh all-time with 116 career goals, and defensively she ranks sixth in ground balls (132), seventh in caused turnovers (76) and third in draw controls (160). After graduation, Braun returned to Bucknell as an assistant coach for two seasons. DeLorenz was a two-time All-Patriot League goalie, and she was the 2009 Patriot League Goalie of the Year. As a senior, DeLorenz was a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American, and twice she was named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Her 689 career saves are third-most in team history.Â
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2010s
The decade of the 2010s began with former Duke star Caline McHenry at the helm of the program, and in 2012 Randall Swope returned for her second stint as head coach. After a few tough seasons, the Bison broke through in 2016 (10-8) and 2017 (9-8) with back-to-back winning seasons, and both teams qualified for the Patriot League Tournament after a seven-year absence. Swope stepped down after that 2017 campaign, Remington Steele took over as head coach for two seasons, and then just prior to the 2020 season Jackie Dando came on board after a successful coaching stint at Lebanon Valley. On today's chat, Dando and junior midfielder Emma Cashwell are joined by four of the top players from the most recent decade: Madison Hurwitz '13, Katelyn Miller '14, Annie Gilbertson '17 and Maddie Molinari '17. Hurwitz was a two-year team captain who ranks 10th on Bucknell's career assists chart with 43. she was a member of the Academic All-Patriot League Team as a senior. Miller is one of the most-decorated scholar-athletes in team history. Not only was she a three-time All-Patriot League midfielder, she was named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Even more prestigious was her IWLCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 2014. Miller's name is littered across the top-10 lists in Bucknell's record book, and she ranks No. 2 all-time with 177 career points and No. 5 with 127 career goals. Gilbertson and Molinari were both two-year captains in 2016 and 2017. A standout defender, Gilbertson set a school record with eight caused turnovers in a game against Wagner in 2017, and her 83 career caused turnovers are third-most in program history. She was a two-time All-Patriot League selection. Molinari was a versatile midfielder who excelled at both ends of the field. She was a First Team All-PL pick as a senior, and on Bucknell's career charts she ranks fifth in draw controls (120), seventh in points (157) and eighth in goals (113).Â
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1970s
Bucknell played its first intercollegiate women's lacrosse schedule as a club program in 1976, and coach Bobbi Testa's squad posted a winning record (3-2) in that initial foray. Just two short years later the program gained varsity status, and Testa's team battled through a myriad of injuries to post a respectable 3-4-2 record, headlined by an 8-7 victory over Gettysburg in the very first game. Some of the best women athletes in Bucknell history were a part of that inaugural varsity team, including Hall-of-Famers Pam Heller, Kathy Kline, Margaret Philleo and Karin Wegener. Heller '78 and Wegener '79 join us on today's chat, along with Val Johnson '78 and Jean Baker '79. Johnson was the leading scorer on the '78 team with 11 goals and four assists, and she was an All-Central Pennsylvania Fourth Team selection that year. Heller tied for the team lead with 11 goals in 1978, followed by Wegener with nine. Both were three-sport stars in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse, and both were Christy Mathewson Award winners as seniors. Baker co-captained the 1978 team and was a two-time All-Central Pennsylvania selection. Coach Jackie Dando and junior defender Eva Macris lead the discussion.
1980s
The varsity women's lacrosse program was still in its infancy when the decade of the 1980s began. Sally Starr, who has spent the last 39 years as head field hockey coach at Boston University, coached the Bison women's lax team in 1980 and 1981, and then Martha Ludwig began a six-year stint in 1982. Ludwig found success in her third season, leading the Bison to a 9-6 record and triple the win total from her first year in charge. That 1984 squad was the first in team history to play in the postseason, as it went 3-3 in East Coast Conference play to qualify for the ECC Tournament. One of the captains of the '84 team was Sue Gray, who still owns the top two single-season goal-scoring performances in team history. Gray, who is a member of the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame, scored 47 goals as a junior in 1983, and then topped that mark with 52 a year later. That remains the only 50-goal season in school history. Another of the top all-time scorers was Michelle Manion '89, whose 140 career goals was the school record until Suzanne Raffaele ecplised the mark in 2003. Two of the top goalies in team history played in the '80s. Susan Lang piled up 875 career saves from 1986-89, which still stands as the program record by a whopping 164 over the next-highest total. Becky Bittinger patrolled the crease from 1982-84, and she still owns the season (.632) and career (.608) records for save percentage. Bittinger also still owns the single-season saves record with 29 against Gettysburg in 1982. Gray, who was invited to try out for the U.S. national team, is one of five alumnae joining us on this chat. She is joined by Liz Rabenold '81, Sue Ramage '85, Heidi Zoller '87 and Irene Sotiropolous '90. All five are former team captains. Ramage was a two-time All-ECC selection. and Zoller earned All-ECC honors in 1986.Â
1990s
The decade of the 1990s was a period of both transition and excitement for the Bison women's lacrosse program, and it was highlighted the move to the Patriot League in 1991 and by the most successful season in team history in 1997. Jennifer Averill came on board as head coach in 1990 and took the team from one victory in her first season to seven just two years later. Averill, who was also the field hockey head coach, departed Bucknell for Wake Forest after the 1992 lacrosse season, and she has gone on to become one of the most successful field hockey coaches in the nation in her 28-year career there. Heather Lewis took over both Bison programs during the 1992-93 academic year, and after four seasons she turned her focus solely to field hockey as Barb Jordan grabbed the lax reins starting in 1997. And what a season that was. The '97 squad finished 13-3, setting team records for wins in a season and winning percentage. That team started out 7-0, including wins over Cornell and Stanford, and the following season the Bison were again successful with a 10-5 record. The '90s produced a Hall-of-Famer in Tricia Way '94, who earned three All-Patriot League citations in lacrosse and two more in field hockey, making her the first Bucknell woman ever to receive five all-conference honors. On today's call, coach Jackie Dando is joined by Leslie Why '92, Amy Green '97, Heidi Hammes '99 and Liz Murphy '99. Why captained the 1992 squad and was a three-time all-conference selection, once in the East Coast Conference and twice in the Patriot League. Green was a two-year captain, a two-time All-Patriot League selection and the 1994 PL Rookie of the Year. She was also the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1997 and was a CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American. Hammes and Murphy were team co-captains as seniors in 1999. Hammes was a three-time All-Patriot Leaguer, and today she ranks fourth in team history in goals (128) and fifth in points (170). She was named to the All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team in 1998. Murphy was also a three-time all-conference selection. Â
2000s
In the decade spanning 2000-09, we saw a number of significant scoring records go down. Suzanne Raffaele, a 2014 Hall of Fame inductee, eclipsed Michelle Manion's 14-year-old career goals record when she finished with 144, four more than the previous mark. Raffaele and Bonnie Buechel both had 40-goal seasons, two of only eight in team history. Carol Donohue shattered the single-season records for points (71) and assists (36) in 2008, and by the time she graduated in 2010 she had broken Raffaele's career points mark with 185, a record that still stands. Buechel, Amy Hasler and Nicole Kallis added career records for draw controls, ground balls and goalie save percentage, respectively, and you get the idea that many of the top players in team history came from this era. From a team standpoint, one of the biggest victories in program history came in 2003, when the Bucknell topped Colgate 13-9 in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. That win sent the Bison on to the league championship game for the first time ever, where they were ultimately defeated by top-seeded American. Bucknell also made postseason appearances in 2004, 2006 and 2009. Raffaele '03 and Buechel '09 are joined by Rachel Prowler '06, Julia Braun '11 and Alyssa DeLorenz '11 on today's conversation. In addition to holding the BU career goals record with 144, Raffaele still ranks third on the career points chart with 173. She was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2000, she was a four-time All-Patriot League selection, and she capped her career by being named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2003. A standout defender, Prowler was a three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection and the 2006 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. Buechel overcame a knee injury to become one of the top midfielders in team history. She was a four-time All-Patriot League selection, including three First Team citations, and was named to the All-Mid-Atlantic Region squad as a senior. Buechel set a team record with 11 draw controls in a game and graduated with a school-record 164. She also ranks third all-time in goals (129), fourth in points (171), fourth in caused turnovers (78) and fifth in ground balls (135). Braun was a two-year team captain who also excelled in the midfield. She ranks seventh all-time with 116 career goals, and defensively she ranks sixth in ground balls (132), seventh in caused turnovers (76) and third in draw controls (160). After graduation, Braun returned to Bucknell as an assistant coach for two seasons. DeLorenz was a two-time All-Patriot League goalie, and she was the 2009 Patriot League Goalie of the Year. As a senior, DeLorenz was a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American, and twice she was named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Her 689 career saves are third-most in team history.Â
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2010s
The decade of the 2010s began with former Duke star Caline McHenry at the helm of the program, and in 2012 Randall Swope returned for her second stint as head coach. After a few tough seasons, the Bison broke through in 2016 (10-8) and 2017 (9-8) with back-to-back winning seasons, and both teams qualified for the Patriot League Tournament after a seven-year absence. Swope stepped down after that 2017 campaign, Remington Steele took over as head coach for two seasons, and then just prior to the 2020 season Jackie Dando came on board after a successful coaching stint at Lebanon Valley. On today's chat, Dando and junior midfielder Emma Cashwell are joined by four of the top players from the most recent decade: Madison Hurwitz '13, Katelyn Miller '14, Annie Gilbertson '17 and Maddie Molinari '17. Hurwitz was a two-year team captain who ranks 10th on Bucknell's career assists chart with 43. she was a member of the Academic All-Patriot League Team as a senior. Miller is one of the most-decorated scholar-athletes in team history. Not only was she a three-time All-Patriot League midfielder, she was named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Even more prestigious was her IWLCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 2014. Miller's name is littered across the top-10 lists in Bucknell's record book, and she ranks No. 2 all-time with 177 career points and No. 5 with 127 career goals. Gilbertson and Molinari were both two-year captains in 2016 and 2017. A standout defender, Gilbertson set a school record with eight caused turnovers in a game against Wagner in 2017, and her 83 career caused turnovers are third-most in program history. She was a two-time All-Patriot League selection. Molinari was a versatile midfielder who excelled at both ends of the field. She was a First Team All-PL pick as a senior, and on Bucknell's career charts she ranks fifth in draw controls (120), seventh in points (157) and eighth in goals (113).Â
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Players Mentioned
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